1 | Page – a Case for the Greater Lincolnshire LEP 2 6 T H September 2018 Greater Lincolnshire LEP's Response to the LEP Revi
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Greater Lincolnshire LEP's response to the LEP Review Annex One -The Case for a Strengthened Greater Lincolnshire LEP A task and finish group of the Greater Lincolnshire LEP Board Directors has undertaken a review of its geography over the summer. It considered 5 proposals of functional economic geography, and the removal of the two local authority overlaps with the Humber LEP, namely North and North East Lincolnshire, then considered a further test of workability (scale and ambition, deliverability, and views of stakeholders). Two proposals for LEPs were agreed by the full LEP board on 20th September, namely Greater Lincolnshire and Humber and Lincolnshire. All members of the LEP board agreed that Greater Lincolnshire is a functioning economic geography. This document explores the functional economic evidence and proposed collaborations in each of the two proposals. The preferred model is for Greater Lincolnshire LEP including all 11 Lincolnshire and Rutland Local Authorities. Functional Economic Areas - As the Greater Lincolnshire LEP considered its geography, the LEP also gave consideration as to whether the LEP’s area is of the right size and scale, relative to other LEPs. There is a range of metrics that the LEP drew upon to reflect our current geography as a functional economic area. The following is a guide of some of the data sets that the LEP has considered: Size - the number of resident population in the area; Scale - the land mass of the area; Self-containment rate - the travel to work area; Productivity - the business GVA in that area; Partnership - the number of local authorities in the partnership; Interaction and Corridors with larger cross regional boundaries such as Northern Powerhouse and Midlands Engine Stakeholder and Business View - LEPs are business-led organisations, and as such the views of the businesses within the geography must be taken into consideration. A number of conversations have taken place over the summer months with the business community, and with representation organisation such as the CBI, IOD, FSB, EEF and the Chambers of Commerce. A notice has been placed on our website to gather views from local stakeholders, as well as using social media. The overwhelming majority of responses have supported a Greater Lincolnshire geography. 10 out of the 11 local authorities support a Greater Lincolnshire geography. Whilst the overwhelming response of the business community favoured a Greater Lincolnshire geography, there was some support for a wider geography embracing the Humber and Lincolnshire. Collaboration - Greater Lincolnshire's porous boundaries will further be strengthened through our collaborations. We will continue to support the delivery of planning and interventions at the most appropriate level (e.g. Midlands Engine / Northern Powerhouse in areas such as transport infrastructure and innovation). Greater Lincolnshire's porous boundaries will further be strengthened through our collaborations. D2N2 and LLEP – further enhance informal arrangements to create stronger alliance across the east midlands LEP, and Midlands Engine LEP's to work in partnership within the Midlands Engine. Regular meetings of the LEP Chairs and Chief Executives occur, with proposals to develop joint research, prospectus, and collaboration on projects. An example of this is the east midlands working together on a proposal for digitalisation within the Made Smarter Review, joint proposals for Skills pilots. 1 | P a g e – A case for the Greater Lincolnshire LEP 26th September 2018 Humber/North Yorkshire LEP – formalise informal relationships to work closely together on common agendas such as Agri-tech and Food, and the strong functional economic geography of northern Lincolnshire is recognised in the A46, A15 housing and employment corridor. The two overlapping LEPs have worked hard to not duplicate in either strategy or delivery, agreeing at each stage who takes the lead. For example joint calls on ESIF, leads on SEP's, and joint events in key sectors. A corridor approach is proposed to reflect the strong functional economic geography of North Lincolnshire and northern Lincolnshire in particular WLDC and ELDC. This corridor approach will recognise the infrastructure links and economic links between the areas. Sheffield City Region and Northern Lincolnshire - further enhance the corridor between north Lincolnshire and Doncaster and Sheffield. GCGP LEP - The Greater Lincolnshire LEP is proposing strong collaboration to recognise the strong economic links. Once the Business Board of the Combined Authority is established, we will explore the form and focus of the collaboration. In terms of functional economic geography, the southern part of Lincolnshire (South Kesteven and South Holland) and the Peterborough area are already well connected. For South Holland, the economy is principally agri-food and manufacturing based, centred on Spalding; with potential for collaboration around the innovation, skills and housing growth agenda with partners in GCGP to further grow the economy. For South Kesteven, we recognise and want to build on the upon the strong established ‘travel to work’ and ‘strategic housing market area’ linkages, maximise the advanced engineering, agri-food and drink, land-based business synergies and enable a stronger focus on nationally strategic transport corridor improvements such as the A1 and East Coast Mainline corridors Sector based collaborations - Greater Lincolnshire leads nationally on the Food and Drink Sector Council, and Midlands Engine for Food and Drink and Agri-Tech, building on the sector strengths across the east midlands, GCGP and New Anglia Summary Table Proposal One Proposal Two Preferred Option Humber and Lincolnshire Geography Proposals Greater Lincolnshire LEP Scale Population 1,082,300 1,681,025 Area 6,958 9,441 Ambition Sectoral Very strong alignment with present Strong alignment between SEP and SEP, Food, Manufacturing, Visitor LIS, Food, Manufacturing, Visitor Economy, Ports and Logistics Economy, Ports and Logistics, Renewables, and Petro Chemicals Socio-Economic Scunthorpe, Grimsby, Lincoln similar, Lincoln, Hull, Scunthorpe and geography with the remainder of Lincolnshire Grimsby similar, with East Ridings and Lincolnshire similar Corridors Yorkshire and Humber, North Hull to East Riding, East Coast, Lincolnshire to Doncaster, South Northern Lincolnshire to Yorkshire Lincolnshire to Peterborough, Lincoln and Humber, Northern Lincolnshire to Newark to Doncaster, Northern Lincolnshire to WLDC and ELDC, Lincoln to Newark, Southern Lincolnshire into Peterborough and Cambridgeshire 2 | P a g e – A case for the Greater Lincolnshire LEP 26th September 2018 Workability Distances 117km North to South; 169km North to South; 85km East to West 85km East to West Governance Model Existing Structure To be agreed with partners Strong accountable model compliant with LEP Review Government appeal Scale to immediately deliver UKSPF Ambitious merger for the area Overwhelming support from the Business and Public Sector for a Greater Lincolnshire Geography Accountable and deliverable Proposal 1 - Greater Lincolnshire LEP With a population of 1,112,000, the Greater Lincolnshire area is a real and natural economic functional area with a strong cultural identity. A key determinant of this is its level of self-containment, the Greater Lincolnshire average figure is 90% making it the seventh highest of any LEP area. There is a high degree of both geographical and sectorial similarity. Greater Lincolnshire’s economic strategy sees North and North East Lincolnshire, the areas of overlap, as key areas for growth, and has invested significant sums (£32 million and £30 million respectively). 10 out of the 11 local authorities strongly support the Greater Lincolnshire geography along with stakeholders from the business community, business representative organisations, and HE and FE. Greater Lincolnshire has a convincing track record of strategy formulation and delivery, and is in a strong position to implement the LEP review, and immediately deliver future local growth funding and UK SPF. The Greater Lincolnshire proposal for geography includes all 10 greater Lincolnshire Local Authorities and Rutland. Many existing external organisations and partnerships operate at this spatial level, such as the Leaders Board, Federation of Colleges, Nature Partnerships, sector groups and Business rep organisations. A number of other programmes have or are being developed within this geography, DFE pilots, Institutes of Technology, Growth Hubs etc. The Greater Lincolnshire proposal would need formal collaboration over the Humber, either through a committee, development corporation or marketing Humber board yet to be discussed and agreed. Further proposals for collaboration between the LEP and neighbouring LEPs are outlined in this document. 3 | P a g e – A case for the Greater Lincolnshire LEP 26th September 2018 Historic County of Lincolnshire, with social, cultural, heritage and historic connections People and businesses identify with Lincolnshire Physical barrier of the Humber estuary Strong commonality of a functional economy History of working together to achieve economic growth Regional partnerships Midlands Engine and Northern Powerhouse. Governance model established Strong support from the Local Authority community Good size and structure to deliver programmes Can immediately deliver UKSPF and LIS Right corporate governance structure to contract Indicator Value Relative positioning Population